The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Mentha plant, botanically known as Mentha pulegium, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Snowcones Purplexe2x80x99.
The new Mentha is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Steenbergen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Menthas with a compact plant habit and attractive flower color. The new Mentha originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1996 of a proprietary Mentha pulegium seedling selection identified as Men-96-S-2, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Mentha pulegium seedling selection identified as Men-96-01-02, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Mentha was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Steenbergen, The Netherlands in 1996, on the basis of its compact growth habit and purple-colored flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Steenbergen, The Netherlands since 1996, has shown that the unique features of this new Mentha are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Snowcones Purple have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment and culture such as temperature, light intensity, daylength, water status, and/or fertilizer rate or type without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Snowcones Purplexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Snowcones Purplexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, outwardly spreading to cascading plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Aromatic dark green foliage.
4. Purple-colored flowers arranged in axillary verticillasters.
Plants of the new Mentha differ from plants of the parent selections and known cultivars of Mentha primarily in plant habit as plants of the new Mentha are more compact than plants of the parent selections and other known cultivars of Mentha.